Under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Government is strengthening institutional framework for management of foreign nationals through expansion of Foreigners Regional Registration Offices (FRROs).
There has been a substantial increase in the number of foreigners visiting India for tourism, medical and education purposes and there is a need to appoint FRROs in all states. This will ensure service accessibility, enhance regulatory compliance and promote India as an attractive destination. Identifying this need, Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah has directed to establish FRROs in all state capitals by 2027.
Pursuant to the above directions of the Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah, five new FRROs have been set-up in the capitals of five states since 2025. Three FRRO offices at Jaipur, Chandigarh and Guwahati were established in the year 2025. Earlier, these were under the jurisdiction of the FRRO offices located at Delhi, Amritsar and Kolkata respectively.
This year two new FRRO offices have been established in the state capitals, namely, Aizawl (Mizoram), and Amravati (Andhra Pradesh). Earlier, Aizawl was under the jurisdiction of FRRO, Kolkata whereas Amravati was under the jurisdiction of FRRO, Hyderabad. Recently three new FRRO offices namely Kohima (Nagaland), Agartala (Tripura) and Bhubaneshwar (Odisha) are notified. Earlier, Kohima and Agartala were under the jurisdiction of FRRO, Kolkata whereas Bhubaneshwar was under the jurisdiction of FRRO, Hyderabad.
The total number of FRRO offices in the country has now gone up to twenty (20), located at Ahmedabad, Amravati, Amritsar, Aizawl, Agartala, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Calicut, Chennai, Cochin, Chandigarh, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kohima, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mumbai and Trivandrum.
The Government of India is pursuing the matter of establishing FRRO’s in remaining States namely Bihar, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya. This will help foreigners visiting India in obtaining various consular services such as visa extension, conversion, immigration compliance and legal safety. The expansion will strengthen local-level institutional capacity, improve coordination with State authorities, facilitate legitimate foreign visitors and reinforce the effective implementation of immigration law and national security requirements.
The expansion of Foreigners Regional Registration Offices (FRROs) has a dual focus on facilitating foreigners’ legitimate travel and stay in India and ensuring effective implementation of immigration laws and security requirements. The Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, which consolidated four earlier laws relating to immigration and foreigners, provides a unified statutory framework for regulating the entry, stay, movement and exit of foreign nationals. As per this act, the Bureau of Immigration, which mainly performs the immigration function, shall in discharge of its duties, be assisted, among others, by the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) as may be authorized by the Central Government of India.
The Foreigners Regional Registration Office regulates, tracks and facilitates the lawful stay of foreign nationals visiting or residing in India. It administers post-arrival registration for eligible category of foreigners and issues a Registration Certificate (RC)/Residential Permit on registration. It also records changes in a foreigner’s particulars, such as residential address, passport details or travel plans within the country, and grants permission to visit protected and restricted areas. Exit permits are issued to foreigners whose visas have expired, who have overstayed, or who require formal clearance before leaving India. Overall, the FRRO monitors compliance with Indian immigration laws, handles cases of overstay and visa violations, and coordinates legal action or penalties where necessary.